IAD TSA strikes again (RANT)
 

Going through TSA checkpoint at IAD by the UA counter this afternoon about 3:30 pm, there were two of us that had roll aboards, laptops, briefcases and another bin with shoes and pocket junk and jackets. Due to the the tight area there, and no one behind us, we both were putting our laptops back in the cases and resetting our bags at the end of the track, when a big fat redheaded female TSA screener pushed all our stuff violently against the end of the track. I asked her not to do that again, as I had a $3000 laptop in the bag, which almost fell off the track. Her comment was, "I will if I want to and there is NOTHING you can do about it." Both of us were honestly shocked to hear that statement, and continued to load up. Another bag came through and she DID IT AGAIN!!!! :mad: I looked over and saw a 2 striper watching, so I went over to him and complained. His comment was, "I didn't see a thing, and if you don't want to be rescreened, you need to move along." I am filing a complaint, but the attitudes at IAD are getting ridiculous! I am about at the point that I am going to force the issue witha supervisor and if I miss a flight, so be it. I'm tired of being treated like trash!!!! :mad:

Wow, that's quite callous!

TSA employees are "at will." In essence it should be easy to fire us, and considering the standards for the job are so low... but we have a high turn-over rate (over 25%) anyone who's competant got this job because it's the federal government, I can't think of a person at my airport who isn't a supervisor or above that doesn't want to transfer to a real federal agency.

But then again, we're at a small airport, so it's a very tolerable job here, and we're held accountable... Our FSD has a habit of sneaking in the back door un-announced.

Stuff like this is quite unfortunate - but the standards and training of the TSA in general are quite... er... negligable.

What do you mean by disappear?? :confused:

Bart has posted that only the black-helicopter crowd would assume that the TSA screeners and their supervisors would place complaint forms in the circular file.

And here you are, a bona-fide member of the Black Helicopter Crowd. :D

Seriously, though, I agree with you. 37 cents is cheap insurance to make sure that the complaint actually makes it to its addressee. Handing it to the checkpoint employees simply invites its disappearance (some might say begs for its immediate disposal).

Do yourself a favor and mail the complaint to the FSD yourself. Don't leave it at a checkpoint, it will probably disappear. If you need help with the address, let me know. Sorry about the way you were treated. BTW, mark the envelope confidential for the FSD. I know that this way it is only opened by the person it is addressed to. I've sent letters myself this way and I have always gotten a response. Not the response I wanted, but I did get one.

U.S. Mail is the ONLY way to go. I have gotten into arguments with supervisors who want to collect complaint forms on the spot. I always refuse, and tell them I'm mailing it to HQ, which makes them angry.

In fact, I've been threatened and even followed for simply requesting a complaint form. And that's in addition to some of the excuses like when they say they don't have them. Clearly there's a contingent of staff trying to squash complaints.

Great advice, Bambi47!

SDF_Traveler

Definitely don't use the TSA complaint form online. You WILL get a form letter back. I have yet to get a personal response from them, and often the form letters have very little to do with the actual complaint--it's like they simply have a keyword scanner that reads the messages and picks out the "right" form response.

Literally, one time the system saw "shoe" in my note and sent me the standard schtick about "You do not have to remove your shoes, but you may be subject to additional screening," even when I had specifically indicated I knew that, but the IAD screener refused to even let me pass through the WTMD without removing my shoes.

I got a real response from the on-line people BUT only after I sent the automated response I got first flying right back at them w/a demand that someone actually READ what I had written (I got the canned 'how to file a claim for damaged baggage' when I was complaining about the screener's behavior @ the baggage screening machine, so there's probably something to what you said about the key word). After that I actually got several REAL responses, including one from the FSD's office @ LAX, though HIS ltr left alot to be desired (he started off by addressing me as "MR. Txrus", which was not a good sign) & a f/u note from TSA apologizing for HIS typo-ridden ltr. Not exactly what I was looking for, but better than another canned response, I guess...

I did the same, but got the same canned response back twice... I ended up complaining to the FSD directly before I got any real response.

Thanks for the input- I will mail it and also email to a friend at DHS who is in a position to look "down" on this from above.
r,
jim

So can anyone photocopy a blank complaint form and make it available to all of us?

I was told today that the form itself is SSI!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=493646

Bruce

Before or after he's been screened?

Really, you don't need a complaint form at all. I would think that by sending an actual letter there would be a smaller chance of it being "filed". There is a list of the FSD's and their phone numbers on http://web.nbaa.org/public/ops/security/fsd/ To get the airports address, just go on their website. Then address the letter to: Mr. John Jones, Federal Security Director, Newark International Airport, whatever street, newark, NJ. Be sure to put CONFIDENTIAL FOR MR. JONES. If you want you can always send it Delivery Confirmation requested. Costs about $3.00 and you can find out exactly when they got it. Also, they all have fax machines. You can call the number listed and ask for the fax number. Just remember to put Confidential for Mr. Jones on the cover sheet.

Oh no, the FSD doesn't have to go through security!! They flash their airport badge and are brought in through the exit lane.